State v. Peloquin

888 So. 2d 393, 2004 WL 2600006
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 17, 2004
Docket04-667
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 888 So. 2d 393 (State v. Peloquin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Peloquin, 888 So. 2d 393, 2004 WL 2600006 (La. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

888 So.2d 393 (2004)

STATE of Louisiana
v.
Orlon PELOQUIN.

No. 04-667.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

November 17, 2004.

*394 Robert Richard Bryant, Jr., District Attorney, Cate L. Bartholomew, Carla S. Sigler, Asst. District Attorney, Lake Charles, LA, for Plaintiff/Appellee, State of Louisiana.

G. Paul Marx, Louisiana Appellate Project, Lafayette, LA, for Defendant/Appellant, Orlon Peloquin.

Orlon Peloquin, CPCC, Lake Charles, LA, In Proper Person, Orlon Peloquin.

Court composed of ULYSSES GENE THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge, GLENN B. GREMILLION and ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, Judges.

GREMILLION, Judge.

In this case, the defendant, Orlon Peloquin, was convicted of attempted sexual battery, violations of La.R.S. 14:43.1 and La.R.S. 14:27. He was sentenced to serve five years in the custody of the Department of Corrections without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence. For the following reasons, we affirm and remand with instructions.

ERRORS PATENT

In accordance with La.Code Crim.P. art. 920, all appeals are reviewed for errors patent on the face of the record. After reviewing the record, we find one error patent. Further, in his fourth assignment of error, Defendant claims he could not find where he had been notified of the two-year time period for filing post-conviction relief as required by La.Code Crim.P. art. 930.8. The State concedes this issue and we could not locate such notice when we reviewed the record for errors patent. Thus, the trial court is directed to inform Defendant of the provisions of Article 930.8 by sending appropriate written notice to him within ten days of the rendition of this opinion and to file written proof that he received the notice in the record of the proceedings.

INADMISSIBLE EVIDENCE

In his first assignment of error, Defendant contends the admission of testimony alleging a sexual proposition by the accused was reversible error. He argues that the question or offer testified to did not amount to a crime or attempted crime because the witnesses were not juveniles at the time and no statute prohibits asking *395 questions related to sex. At trial, the State called B.P. as a witness. At that time, Defendant objected to the introduction of evidence by B.P. and K.P., both sisters of A.G., that he approached each of them on separate occasions and asked each of them if they wanted to see his penis. Defendant argued that those acts did not constitute a crime. The State informed the trial court that B.P. gave her statement in 2002, when she was nineteen, and that she probably would have been seventeen at the time of the incident. Additionally, it stated that K.P. gave her statement in 2002, when she was sixteen, making her approximately fourteen at the time of the incident.[1] The State contended that although the acts were not completed, Defendant's actions constituted an attempt to commit obscenity or an attempt to commit indecent behavior with a juvenile. The trial court overruled Defendant's objection.

Both B.P. and K.P. testified that Defendant asked if they wanted to see his penis, but neither of them could remember when these incidents occurred. Louisiana Code of Evidence Article 412.2(A) provides:

When an accused is charged with a crime involving sexually assaultive behavior, or with acts that constitute a sex offense involving a victim who was under the age of seventeen at the time of the offense, evidence of the accused's commission of another sexual offense may be admissible and may be considered for its bearing on any matter to which it is relevant subject to the balancing test provided in Article 403.

Louisiana Code of Evidence Article 403 provides that "[a]lthough relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or waste of time."

The State argued that Defendant committed attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile or attempted obscenity when he asked B.P. and K.P. if they wanted to see his penis. Louisiana Revised Statute 14:81(A) provides:

Indecent behavior with juveniles is the commission of any lewd or lascivious act upon the person or in the presence of any child under the age of seventeen, where there is an age difference of greater than two years between the two persons, with the intention of arousing or gratifying the sexual desires of either person. Lack of knowledge of the child's age shall not be a defense.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:106(A)(1) provides that obscenity is:

Exposure of the genitals, pubic hair, anus, vulva, or female breast nipples in any public place or place open to the public view, or in any prison or jail, with the intent of arousing sexual desire or which appeals to prurient interest or is patently offensive.

Louisiana Revised Statute 14:27 defines attempt as follows:

A. Any person who, having a specific intent to commit a crime, does or omits an act for the purpose of and tending directly toward the accomplishing of his object is guilty of an attempt to commit the offense intended; and it shall be immaterial whether, under the circumstances, he would have actually accomplished his purpose.
B. (1) Mere preparation to commit a crime shall not be sufficient to constitute an attempt; but lying in wait with a dangerous weapon with the intent to commit a crime, or searching for the intended victim with a dangerous weapon *396 with the intent to commit a crime, shall be sufficient to constitute an attempt to commit the offense intended.

In State v. Smith, 94-3116 (La.10/16/95), 661 So.2d 442, the defendant was found guilty of attempted aggravated crime against nature for attempting to commit an act of oral sex upon his son. Both the defendant's sons testified that he entered their bedroom, laid on the victim's bed, and told the victim to sit on his chest so he could suck the victim's penis. In Smith, the court cited State v. Baxley, 93-2159 (La.2/28/94), 633 So.2d 142, wherein the defendant's only act was to offer an undercover police officer twenty dollars for oral sex. The supreme court concluded that solicitation of another to commit a crime was only preparatory and not an overt act which would support a conviction for the attempt of the crime solicited. After considering its ruling in Baxley, the supreme court in Smith concluded that the defendant in Smith had the specific intent to commit a crime against nature and did an act tending directly toward accomplishing his goal.

In State v. Gaspard, 02-1040 (La.App. 3 Cir. 3/5/03), 841 So.2d 1021, the defendant was convicted of attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile for showing his eleven-year-old son explicit pornographic photos. There was no evidence in the record that the defendant touched, or tried to touch, himself or his son, that there was any suggestion of nudity or physical exposure of any kind by either of them, or that the defendant suggested they engage in any sexual acts. In Gaspard, we reviewed State v. Louviere, 602 So.2d 1042 (La.App. 4 Cir.1992), writ denied, 610 So.2d 796 (La.1993), where the appellate court reversed the defendant's conviction for attempted indecent behavior with a juvenile. In Louviere,

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Bluebook (online)
888 So. 2d 393, 2004 WL 2600006, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-peloquin-lactapp-2004.